Maternity Shoot

I had a good friend take some pictures of me on Sunday.  Amy's sister-in-law, Amanda, is a mother/baby photographer in the making! It was so much fun doing these with her!  They are funky and WAY COOL (in my opinion of course).  It made for a great memory and I can't wait to make a photo album to show this baby someday!  Here's a few of my favorites.  Thanks so much Amanda! I really LOVE them!  If any males read this, beware....there is a lot of bare belly! I am 34 weeks (and 2 days if we are counting days) in these pictures.

In other news, the nursery is ready if this baby comes! I have had some great showers!! The basketball team moms organized a surprise shower for Amy and I.  It was SO sweet of all of them!!  We got our pack-n-play so now when we go to Branson, we will have a bed for baby :)  And my work ladies did a great job of throwing me a "basketball baby" shower.  My aunt hosted a shower for me a little over a week ago and it was so much fun!!!  Thank you to everyone for all your generosity!  We are blessed! 

Doctor Update

Just a quick update...

I had my doctor's appointment today and it went well! I met a new doctor and really like him! He was totally ok with me going to Branson. He said he would want to check me right before I left to make sure there wasn't anything brewing but if all is good before I leave, then he said just take my records with me and I should be fine if I happen to go into labor down there.

He said the heartbeat was in the "140s". I am still measuring small...I was measuring 32 weeks and I am now 33 and 1/2 weeks. So he said this is a good excuse to do another ultrasound just to check things out. But he said not to worry! So we will have an ultrasound in 2 weeks at my next appointment. I told him we DO NOT want to find out what we are having so he won't even go looking down in that area. But we are both pretty excited to see this baby again! It's been so long!!! (18 weeks to be exact since we've seen him/her). So Wednesday, Feb. 10th is the day :) And Jeff will get to go to that one too so I'm happy!

I had my family/friends shower this past Saturday. My Aunt Jen hosted and it was beautiful! We had so much fun and I got so many wonderful gifts!! All very practical :) So thankful! I have a shower with co-workers tomorrow at my house and I am looking forward to that!

I'll update with pictures soon. Baby is moving a lot and I love it!

32 Week Belly Picture

Hello All!  Not much to say right now.  Things are going well! I am feeling really good.  The wildcats won their 13th straight game on Tuesday against Taylor.  I have a couple showers coming up here in the next week and a half and then it will be crunch time to get everything set up.  Jeff's aunt sent us our high chair.  It was incredibly generous of them!  Jeff put it together for me tonight...so cute!  It's starting to sink in that there is a baby coming but I think I'm still in a bit of denial :)  I just keep going about my business as usual. 

I am actually planning on going to Branson, Missouri for the National Basketball Tournament assuming the rest of the season goes well for the Wildcats.  I am due the day of the sweet 16.  I have checked into the hospital down there and it is in my network. Now I just need to make a few phone calls to the doctors down there to chat with them.  At my doctor's appointment next week, I will be chatting with one of them about going.  I know a lot of you might think I am crazy.  And I very well may be!  But I can't let Jeff miss that tournament and I DON'T WANT TO MISS THE TOURNAMENT.  Seriously, it has always been such a fun experience and I just love the games.  So I just keep praying for the Lord's will to be done.  I know it may not be my timing but I want what's best for this baby.  And I know this baby wouldn't want to miss those games!!  So we'll see what happens.  Maybe I'll go early and we'll just take our first vacation to MO.  

I have not been sleeping very well lately but the last 2 nights have been great!  I had Monday off and made up 4 meals to freeze, went to infant CPR, did some housework, met a friend for breakfast, got new wiper blades for our cars, and made dinner for us and some friends.  So I think all that work pooped me out so I have slept great the past 2 nights.  One of our players, Will (thanks Will!!! It looks great!), finished painting the baby's room and our bedroom ceilings so now I can get a lot of work done in the baby's room setting things up.  I can't wait to meet this little one!!!  I hope to post a picture of the nursery soon.  Hopefully before baby Clark comes :)

Here's a picture of my 32 1/2 week belly.  Enjoy!

Long Overdue Belly Picture

Well, I think the last picture I posted was of 25 weeks.  A lot has happened in the past 6+ weeks.  The IWU Wildcats have won 10 games in a row! Jeff and I both had the stomach flu.  And just last night I got another round of it.  Thankfully no throwing up but just the other stuff.   Greg and Amy had it last night/today.  Jeff has been spared for the second round.  We had a great time with both families at Christmas time.  All of our nieces got the same outfit for Christmas and we got a picture of them all.  So cute!!  From left to right, Emery (2 years 3 months, Elena (~9 weeks), Lilly (16 weeks), and Hannah (8 months).  Sisters, I hope I have those dates right!

The day that I got the stomach flu, I was supposed to do my glucola test.  Obviously, I did not do it that day since I couldn't hardly keep much down.  But I did it the following Monday.  The test came back and my glucose was too high. I was definitely bummed out!  So I had to go in for the 3 hour test this past Thursday. I can honestly say I was really disappointed in myself. Even though it wasn't for sure that I had gestational diabetes, it was still difficult to think that I might have it.  I know people develop gestational diabetes and have perfectly healthy babies.  But Satan really tried to convince me that I had failed and had done something wrong.  After talking with several people, they all helped me realize that this was not something I needed to blame myself for.  And even if I did have gestational diabetes, the Lord would help me through it and myself and the baby would be fine. Plus I only have a few more weeks to go.  Needless to say, I had a heart to heart with God the night before my test.  That same night, Jeff had to leave to go to Michigan with the team so they could avoid all the snow that came the next day. So I was alone with my thoughts for most of the evening. Before bed, I was reading a book called "Promises of Joy" that my parents had gotten me for Christmas.  One of the verses I came across was Psalm 30:5 "Weeping may remain for a night, but joy comes in the morning."  It was incredibly appropriate for my feelings at the time.  I fully believe God keeps His promises, so I decided to claim that promise as my own that there would be joy after this test.  I continued to pray that promise and not to worry.  I can honestly say God definitely eased my worries.  I slept very well and woke up feeling pretty good.  I brought a book with me to read during the 3 hours I was in the lab (all alone except for the lab tech).  It was a Karen Kingsbury book called "When Joy Came to Stay".  Not having a clue what it was about (I just knew I hadn't read that one yet), the first verse of the book was Psalm 30:5.  I knew at that moment, that God was there with me and was encouraging me to keep believing that promise.  The test went smoothly (the four needle sticks didn't hurt nearly as bad as I had expected).   On Friday, I called and the results came back normal!  (WELL below the cut offs for each hour).  Praise the Lord!  Jeff and I were so excited :)  Thank you to everyone who prayed for us!   I go to the doctor tomorrow for my regular appointment.  It's always exciting to hear the heartbeat.  The baby weighs over 3 pounds now and is about 16-17 inches long. I am feeling baby's kicks much stronger and they are more like jabs and rolls.  Sometimes up in my ribs!  But I love it.  I never get tired of putting my hand on my belly and feeling the baby.  Sorry for such a long post. I will try to post more frequent here in the next few weeks.  Hard to believe how fast time is going!!! Enjoy the pics.  These are actually a few weeks back (at Christmas time) when I was about 29 weeks.  I'll try to update this next week with a more recent pic.

An update from earlier...

Well, I was able to crawl off the couch and go to my doctor's appointment to find out I had lost 3 lbs!! :(  Poor Beans.  And what I thought was food poisoning may not be anymore.  My father-in-law called me a few minutes ago and said he heard on the IWU radio (there is a basketball game tonight that Jeff is missing because he is at the hotel just trying not to throw up) that Jeff was not able to go due to food poisoning.  He called immediately and said it may not be food poisoning. I guess two of my sister-in-laws, one of my nieces, and my mother-in-law have all been sick last night and today!!!  So I think it's a contagious bug! My other sister in law thought she had food poisoning around Christmas but I'm beginning to think it was a contagious bug. :(  So sorry for all of those people I have been around recently.  So anyways...I am feeling ok. Still haven't been able to eat anything but I can finally keep liquids down.  Please continue to pray for Jeff that he recovers soon so he doesn't have to miss tomorrow's game.  And pray also for sweet Amy and Jace who stopped by to bring me 7 up and to take care of me today for a little while. I hope they do not get sick!  Thank you!

Just a little taste

Wow...I have an increased amount of empathy for those women who are sick and throwing up during pregnancy.  I have never had morning sickness, afternoon sickness, or nausea period.  But last night was different!  Jeff and I shared a lunch (I won't tell you from where) and then he left for a basketball trip in Cleveland.  I wasn't feeling well around 8:30.  I thought it was from being so overly tired from the fun weekend we had. But it definitely was not.  If you have a weak stomach, lets just say we had food poisoning and stop reading right here. At about 11:30, I woke up to run to the bathroom to have horrible diarrhea.  Then I could tell I needed to throw up so I made myself do that so it wouldn't drag on. That feeling is the worst.  So it all began...Every hour or so, I woke up to have both at the same time.  Horrible feeling.  Especially being alone.  Finally, at about 6, I stopped throwing up and have just continued the other. However, it has been much less often since then.  I wanted to call Jeff but I didn't know who he was rooming with and if he would be awake. At about 8am, I got a text from him saying he had been doing the same thing all night long! Poor thing! He's at a hotel doing this!  Thankfully I was at home in my own bed and bathroom.  So needless to say, throwing up while pregnant is NO FUN!  I felt like I was squishing "beans"each time it happened.  So I am so sorry to all of you who experienced that on a more regular basis because of pregnancy. 

I was supposed to have my glucose test today but I can't hardly keep water or Ginger Ale down so I will have to do that at another time.  I will still try to go for my regular appointment. It's a t 2:15 so hopefully by then, I'll have some energy to do that.  

Sorry to be so open about all the body issues I have :)  Say a prayer for Jeff that he stops doing all of this soon!  He will be in Cleveland through late Wednesday night :(

Love to all!

Baby Clark Update

I don't have a new picture yet but I will try to get one up this weekend.  I had a doctor's appointment yesterday that went great!  Even though I had gained 7 more pounds (yikes!) everything checked out great.  I think I have gained a total of 20 pounds so far.  I am now measuring right on track (27cm).  Baby weighs about 2 pounds and is about 14 1/2 inches long.  So of the 20 I have gained, I can only blame 2 on the baby itself.  Maybe the other 18 is just evenly displaced within the uterus :) Here's what's going on with my body: (males, stop reading right here).  I have started leaking light yellow fluid from the 2 ladies on top. I actually have some burning/discomfort throughout the day that lasts for just about 10 seconds at a time when it usually happens.  And I can express fluid manually pretty much at any time. Anyone else experience that???  I have also been having Braxton Hicks contractions.  Lately they have been daily, but I don't think I have had any today.  And I have been experiencing more pelvic achiness.  My body is definitely preparing for what's ahead.  I have to do my glucola test in a couple weeks.  Hopefully that will go ok.  We are hosting our small group Christmas party on Sunday.  It should be a fun time.  My friend Amy's birthday is tomorrow.  Happy birthday friend!!  Don't know what I would do without your friendship!